Moldovan ex-prime minister charged over airport concession
World
Moldovan ex-prime minister charged over airport concession
CHISINAU (Reuters) - Moldovan former Prime Minister Iurie Leanca has been charged with abuse of power over a concession that gave control of the country's main airport to a businessman now in exile, a senior prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Veronica Dragalin, head of Moldova's anti-corruption prosecution office, said a former economy minister and six other former officials also faced similar charges in a criminal case which she said had been referred to court.
All the accused pleaded not guilty, she told a news conference in the Moldovan capital Chisinau.
The 2013 concession handed control of Chisinau International Airport for a 49-year term to a company associated with politician and businessman Ilan Shor, who fled Moldova in 2019 after the election of pro-Western President Maia Sandu.
An appeals court ruled last November that control of the airport should return to the state.
